"Your punishment of the peasants was inspiring. An exemplary job. Our next move is to conquer the rural lords near Roland's castle. While these lords can be defeated using conventional methods, it is the firm opinion of my chief warlock advisor that the aid of the dragon king would be an effective weapon against our enemies. Unfortunately, the dragon king will not help us voluntarily. What is your counsel, my general? Shall we launch an immediate attack against Roland's vassals, or shall we first conquer the dragons?"
—Archibald's intro, if arriving from Rebellion
"Well done. The dragon king is cooperating with us now, and I have him on a short leash. (laughter) They will supply extra forces for our armies and will cooperate if you encounter any in the wild. Carry on with the attack against Roland's vassals."
—Archibald's intro, if arriving from Dragon Master
Country Lords is the eighth scenario of Archibald's campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars.
Your orders are to conquer the country lords that have sworn to serve Roland. All of the enemy castles are unified against you. Since you start without a castle, you must hurry to capture one before the end of the week. Capture all enemy castles for victory.OffBck
Almost ready to strike down Roland's rebellion, Archibald Ironfist decided to sent his commander to conquer the rural lords near Roland's castle. The commander emerged victorious yet again.
Walkthrough[]
The commander has a single red warlock with an army, but without a town, while the blue knights have one castle, two towns, and five heroes - one outside every city, one on the island to the east, and one to the west of the warlock, ready to steal the resources there.
After going west and dealing with the thieving knight, the warlock should head east as quickly as possible, capturing the sorceress castle before the week is over. By building up and taking some neutral towns, the commander should create an army to face the knights. The knights start with several high-level creatures, and won't be easily defeated.
There's a two-way portal from the knight's castle to the island, so it's not necessary to build shipyards.